My Father's Son
by Takada Saiko
Summary: What happens when Jack shows up in the middle of the night and lets Will in on a secret that his father might still be alive. Should Will get his hopes up or will they end up crushed? please R
1. Default Chapter

Title: My Father's Son  
  
Author: Takada Saiko  
  
Disclaimers: I wonder sometimes why I even bother to make these anymore.....  
  
A/N: Third in my series! Yay! Much thanks to JackFan2 aka Cap'n Julie for helpin' me out on coming up with some stuff for this! Greatly appreciated :)  
  
**Chapter One: Midnight Conversations of Dreams**  
  
_"I'm home!" William Turner called as he stepped into the house, gazing around. Rebecca? Will?"  
  
"Papa!" a young Will hollered as he launched himself at his father.  
  
"I've got something for you, lad," William said as he held out a small package.  
  
His son took it eagerly, tearing it open to find a gold piece with a chain attached to it. "What is it?"  
  
"Aztec gold," William answered his son. "Keep it with you always, lad."  
  
Will nodded.  
  
His father looked up to see his wife walking into the room. "Run along and play, Will. I'll see you in a bit."  
  
Rebecca watched her son run out of the room, fingering the gold in his hands. "You won't stay long, will you?"  
  
William looked down. "Rebecca, love, something's happened and I don't know if I'll be coming back."  
  
She looked at him, horrified. "William! But Jack promised he'd never take you away for good! He said...."  
  
"Jack's not the captain any longer, Rebecca, something happened. Something terrible. I'm sorry to place this burden on you and Will, but.... I don't think I'll be returning any time soon." He leaned forward and kissed his wife. "I love you, Rebecca. You and Will... You're what I care about most, remember that."  
_  
Will came out of the dream with tears in his eyes. Dream... memory... something. He turned to see Elizabeth still sleeping peacefully beside him and he quietly got out of bed and made his way to another room. The moonlight poured into the house, reminding him of a curse that he'd much rather like to forget.  
  
He hadn't remembered that day that his father had left in great detail until recently, but now the memory plagued him in the form of dreams. His father had left him the Aztec gold to protect, and he, Jack, and Elizabeth had just barely done it. He sighed heavily.  
  
"Not sleepin' well, lad?"  
  
Will spun around, his sleep-deprived mind not registering the voice. There was someone in his house that was not supposed to be there.  
  
"I'sjus' me, Will," Jack's voice finally penetrated his mind. The pirate was standing in his dining room, moon lighting up half of his face to show a grin across his tan features. "How ya doin', lad?"  
  
"I'm well," Will finally managed. "What are you doing here, Jack?"  
  
"Can't a friend visit?"  
  
"Can't a friend come in during the day like a normal person?" He glanced at the window across the room with curtains shifting in the breeze. "And through the door, perhaps?"  
  
Jack grinned. "Pirate."  
  
"Very true."  
  
"Somethin' botherin' ye, Will?" Jack asked as he stepped closer.  
  
"Dreams."  
  
"About?"  
  
Will cocked an eyebrow. "Must you know?"  
  
"Just tryin' to 'elp, lad. If ye don' wan' it, ye don' have to accept it."  
  
"Just leave it, all right?!" Will snapped.  
  
Jack stepped back, a slightly hurt look in his eyes. "'m sorry, Will. Jus' wanted to drop by and say 'allo." He turned to leave.  
  
"Jack, wait!" Will had to jog to keep up with the still leaving pirate. "Jack, please, I'm sorry."  
  
"S'okay, Will, I just don' wanna get in the way, eh?"  
  
"Jack, you're not in the way.... I'm sorry...." He grasped his friend's shoulder to keep him from walking further. "I've just been having these dreams that have kept me up and...."  
  
Jack cocked his head to the side slightly, waiting for the blacksmith to finish.  
  
"Jack, what was my father like?"  
  
This caught the pirate slightly off his guard. "What do ye want to know about 'im?"  
  
"I've been wondering for a while now.... I guess the past year since we talked about him."  
  
Jack closed his eyes, straining his memory for what Will was talking about. Ah yes! Of course! Right before the _Crimson Wave_ incident. How could he forget? "Wonderin' wha', Will?"  
  
"Just about him... He came home, yes, but he never stayed long, so I don't really remember what he was like. I know you and Gibbs say he was a good man, but that's all I know."  
  
"I've told ye 'e use to talk our 'ears off 'bout ye. 'e was loyal.....Most loyal man I knew."  
  
"Yet he didn't stop the mutiny."  
  
Jack froze. His hands had been moving as he spoke but now they stopped dead where they were, suspended in air and his eyes wide. He had tried to forget Barbossa's mutiny within the past year or so. The memories were too painful and threatened to make him judge his current crew on the actions of his former. The pirate captain swallowed. "Will, don' guess ye've snuck some rum in , 'ave ye?" he asked with a forced grin.  
  
"Jack, please stay to the point."  
  
"You're gonna 'ave to get me plenty drunk to talk about this, mate."  
  
Will nodded. "All right."  
  
------------------------------  
  
Half an hour later Jack was on his second jug of rum. They'd been mostly silent – he did not have a moment to say anything while chugging rum - up until this point. Finally Jack set the bottle down, raising a hand in a sweeping motion as he began to speak. "Yer father," he began, "was my closest friend on the _Pearl_. 'e was one of the few who 'ad a family back 'ome and some men looked down on 'im for it, specially since 'e cared about 'is family. 'ol William warned me about the possibility of mutiny many times before it 'appened. 'Bloodthirsty and ready for a good killin', they are,' 'e'd say. 'They're sayin' yer too young, Jack.'" Jack stopped and looked away for a moment.  
  
"How old were you when you became captain?"  
  
"I was fourteen when I came aboard 'er - Yer father picked me up outa Tortuga – and I was captain by the time I was nearly eighteen."  
  
"You were young."  
  
"But I was good, lad, an' tha's all tha' counts in my business. But I wasn' quite as calloused as the rest of 'em. William and I were the only ones who weren't ready to kill everyone onboard if we didn' 'ave to. Barbossa came aboard about a year before the mutiny and led everyone but yer father down 'ill from there. But not 'ol Bootstrap Bill. Good man, William was. Stupid, bloody William..."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Sendin' tha' piece away.... Always 'ad to do wha' 'e deemed right, 'e did. Good man."  
  
"So are you."  
  
Jack smiled slightly. "So you keep tellin' me, lad. But I guess it all turned out, eh? You and 'Lizabeth got together, yer lad's gettin' bigger and bigger – 'ow's 'e doin' anyway? – and I got me Pearl back. Things turned out well enough."  
  
"Where was he the night of the mutiny, Jack?"  
  
"Who? William? On deck, with everyone else."  
  
"And he did nothing?"  
  
"What can one man do against a crew?"  
  
Will nodded slowly. "I suppose. I'm sorry he died before meeting his grandson. You think we did right calling him Bill?"  
  
"I think William'd 'ave been honored, lad."  
  
Will reached forward to the bottle of rum Jack had been drinking and poured a bit into a glass. "So you've forgiven him?" he asked as he took a sip.  
  
"Don' s'pose 'ere was ever anythin' to forgive. Wasn't 'is idea."  
  
Will nodded. "I wish he'd lived."  
  
"And who's to say 'e didn'?"  
  
The blacksmith choked on his rum. "What?!" he asked in a hushed tone, but still forceful.  
  
Jack waved his hand in a dismissive manner.  
  
"Don't you back out of this one now, Jack Sparrow, you finish what you started to say."  
  
"I said what I was gonna say, lad. Tha's all."  
  
"But what did you MEAN by it?"  
  
Jack frowned slightly and took another swig of rum. "Yer father was cursed when 'ey sent 'im to the depths. 'e COULDN' die, Will. Unless 'e died sometime after the curse was lifted – within the past year – then 'e's out there somewhere."  
  
Will sat stunned. "And you didn't think it was worth mentioning before?"  
  
"Never really thought about it much before...."  
  
"Were you planning on telling me all this when you came tonight?"  
  
"No."  
  
"But you'd thought it through?"  
  
"Aye."  
  
Will resisted the urge to slam his head – or better yet Jack's – against the table in frustration.  
  
"Well I didn' wanna get yer 'opes up," Jack continued.  
  
Will glared. "What if I were to know your father was alive and didn't tell you, how well would you take to that, hmm?"  
  
Jack's face became more serious than Will had seen before. "I watched my father drop and 'eard 'is neck break. Neither of us saw yer father die. False hope can break a man, Will, an' I didn' wanna do tha' to ya."  
  
Will sat stunned. He hadn't meant to mention Jack's father. He was having enough trouble seeing Marie and Richard every time he entered Port Royal without the subject being thrown in his face. Stupid Will..... Bloody stupid Will....  
  
"Jack...."  
  
"'m goin' to look for 'im soon," Jack said quietly. "If ye'd like to come, I 'ave no objection to it."  
  
Will nodded. "Aye. I'd very much like that."  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
A/N: Okay! This is the third in my group of stories! Hope it's a good beginning to those who've been following or just those who've jumped in! (Welcome to those!) Just to clear things up, b/c the names are bound to confuse people, this is my attempt to clear it up.  
  
William is Bootstrap Bill. People will refer to him as either Bootstrap or William, but I don't think I'll ever refer to him as Bill b/c of Will's son.  
  
Will is our lovely Will Turner, blacksmith/pirate! He's so pretty.....  
  
Bill is the name I chose to use for Will's son. I had been throwing that idea around in my head as it is (and it echoed, so it was getting slightly annoying....) and JackFan2 was the one that suggested using Bill for the name, so I'm going to go ahead and give credit to her! Yay! Thanks very much :) And also thank you to those who gave me names to use! I might use them for other people just because they were such cool names  
  
TBC 


	2. ch2

**Chapter Two: Beginnings**  
  
A/N: the italicized words are flashbacks  
  
Jack stirred early the next morning in the chair he'd fallen asleep in. He had a habit of falling asleep in that particular chair. It was big, stuffed, and he claimed it was better than any bed that he had ever slept in before. His only complaint was it wasn't big enough for two, unless.... Well Elizabeth always stopped him there, looking over at her small son her watched the pirate with keen interests.  
  
Captain Jack Sparrow stirred awake this particular morning with a small boy tugging on his jacket from the floor. He cracked one chocolate coloured eye open very slowly and faked a glare at the lad. "Bill.... Lad, you weren't getting' 'round that well last time I was 'ere."  
  
"You haven't been here in a few months," Elizabeth said with a smile. "Would you like to join us for breakfast, Captain? Will says there's something to discuss."  
  
"I take it I'm pickin' up the treasure snipe?" Jack mumbled.  
  
"My son, yes," Elizabeth responded with a small laugh.  
  
Jack grinned and hauled the boy up. "'Allo, lad," he greeted the boy.  
  
"Uncle Jack!"  
  
Jack grinned. "Tha's fine when yer a boy, but I won' be 'avin' tha' when yer old enough to come on board the _Pearl_, ya 'ear me?"  
  
The boy just laughed as Jack handed him over to his mother.  
  
"Just wait until Ana Maria starts wanting kids," Will said with a grin.  
  
"I don' think tha'll be 'appenin' any time soon, lad," Jack answered confidently.  
  
"It will," Elizabeth answered. "Just you wait. You two should get married, Jack. You're a perfect match."  
  
Will laughed. "Let them make up their own minds, Elizabeth!"  
  
"Jus' because we don' 'ave a piece 'o paper doesn' mean tha' we're not as good as married," Jack said.  
  
"That piece of paper means a lot!" Elizabeth answered.  
  
"Does it? Don' see 'ow. We're not legal citizens anyway. Why do we need to do tha' legally?" Jack waved his hand, dismissing it. "Anyway, luv, it doesn' matter to us, savvy?" Jack leaned back in his seat. The crew had, within the last few months, started to refer to Ana Maria as "the captain's wife" in an almost joking manner, but it had become more serious by the day, taking on a very real meaning. In the eyes of those they cared about, they were married. It wasn't like they could just walk into a port and say, "Hey, we're pirates but we'd like to be married, savvy?" Jack almost smiled at the thought. That would be priceless, but if it were anywhere else but Port Royal, he knew it'd be their necks.  
  
"Elizabeth, I mentioned there was something I wanted to talk to you about," Will said as he leaned forward on the table. "What would you say if I said I was going to go away with Jack for a few days?"  
  
His wife stopped what she was doing immediately and turned to him. "To do what?"  
  
"Nothin' illegal!" Jack interjected. "I don' think....."  
  
"That's not encouraging, Jack."  
  
"Something's happened, 'Lizabeth, that I need to see to."  
  
"And what could that be?"  
  
Will stood and led his wife out of the room, leaving Jack with little Bill. The pirate sighed. He felt like he was sitting back at William Turner's house in London, Rebecca throwing a fit and threatening to throw him out.  
  
_ "You said you'd stay longer this time, William!" Rebecca's tear filled voice echoed through the hallway.  
  
Jack shifted where he was leaning against the outside of the house. He'd only been in the house two or three times, and only once since he had become captain of the Black Pearl. Rebecca had long since stopped wanting him around. Once she had said "Oh poor lad," but now it was more "Jack Sparrow, what do you think you're doing here?!" He sighed again and pulled his hat over his face.  
  
"Rebecca, I'm sorry, but we've got jobs to do," William answered. Jack heard his voice hush, obviously to keep it from being overheard by a certain young lad that looked like a smaller version of his father. "Do you think this house pays for itself? Do you think Will's education pays for itself? I don't want him to live my life out like I am now. I want you and he to be happy, Rebecca."  
  
"I want you!"  
  
"I have to help Jack...."  
  
Jack made a face under his hat. What did William take him for, the lad he had picked up six years earlier? He should think not. It was time to play the villain once more and step in. He knocked on the door and opened it a bit. "William, we can't wait forever, mate!" he hollered.  
  
"Jack Sparrow don't you set foot in this house!" Rebecca yelled. She appeared in the front room, shaking her finger at the young captain. "I don't want you in this house until you're here for a proper visit and not to steal my William away!"  
  
"'m not in the 'ouse, Rebecca," he answered with a grin. "'m sorry, but I gotta take 'im. I'll bring 'im back soon, savvy?"  
  
"No, not savvy!" she yelled in his face. "I want my husband to stay here with me, like he should! Not gallivanting around! I would think you'd have repaid him in a proper way, not taking him onto your ship, Jack!"  
  
"'m sorry, Rebecca."  
  
"Just get out! Get out!"  
_  
Jack had left that day, but with William at his side. He'd not seen Rebecca again. Will had said something about her dying a couple years after that. It made him sick to think that Elizabeth might start treating him the same way. Not sick enough not to take Will with him though.  
  
Bill started wailing at the top of his lungs as his parents' voices grew louder. Elizabeth stormed into the room, pulling him up and trying to hush him. Jack simply sat and watched. He made brief eye contact with Will, silently asking if he'd still be a passenger aboard the ship when they left out.  
  
"It's something I have to do," Will repeated gently. "It won't be long, will it, Jack?"  
  
"'Course not." Déjà vu all over again.  
  
Elizabeth sniffed. "Couldn't you at least tell me where you'll be?"  
  
"I don't know," Will confessed.  
  
"What you'll be doing?"  
  
"Looking for someone."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"No one," Jack said as he stood. "We should be on our way, Will. I'll bring 'im back to ya in one piece, luv, don' worry 'bout tha'. 'ave some trust in 'ol Jack, wouldja?"  
  
Elizabeth smiled and shook her head sadly. "You better bring him back in one piece."  
  
Jack grinned. "O' course, luv."  
  
---------------------------  
  
Will had forgotten how much he missed the spray of the sea on his face and the feel of the wind in his hair. His pirate's blood was brought forth with a vengeance while on the _Black Pearl_. He heard Jack approach. He'd disappeared for a while down below deck with Ana Maria after they started off. He looked as if he were deep in thought when he reached the railing Will was standing at.  
  
"So how long will it take to get there?" the blacksmith asked.  
  
"A couple of days, give or take."  
  
Silence reigned for a moment as Will leaned forward and breathed in the ocean's air. "How'd you meet him?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"My father."  
  
"Yer suddenly full 'o questions 'bout 'im, aren't ya?"  
  
Will nodded. "If we find him.... I'd like to know who he is. Just some things. You're the person that knows the most about him, right? So...."  
  
"So," Jack answered with a wink. "An' 'ow are ye sure I won' embellish the stories?"  
  
"Because I trust you."  
  
Jack looked started for a glimpse of a moment and then grinned. "Thanks, Will."  
  
"The story, then?"  
  
"I left London when I was fourteen because Richard took a club to me head," Jack stated bluntly. "I didn' wanna deal with tha' again so I took off. I 'ated 'im, but we're not talkin' 'bout Richard are we?" He gave a long sigh and leaned over the rail, his eyes focused on something unseen. "I got as far as Tortuga, which turned out to be right. Yer father found me there."  
  
_William Turner stepped off the longboat that had taken him from the Black Pearl to the shores of Tortuga. He never indulged in the "pleasurable company" as so many of the men did. He had a boy at home. He was proud of his four-year-old lad and he'd do nothing to ruin the relationship he had with his wife and child. Rum, though, was certainly not out of the question.  
  
William stepped into one of the many bars. The smoke made his head spin a bit and he made his way to the bar where the owner had a hold of a young boy. "I don' owe ye a thing!" the boy yelled.  
  
"Worthless brat! You stole that and you know it!" the owner answered him, pulling his massive hand back to strike the boy.  
  
William took hold of the hand. "That's not very nice," he said with a smile. "Now what did the lad steal?"  
  
The owner recognized William and frowned. "Loaf of bread from me kitchen ,Bootstrap. Wha'? You gonna pay for it?"  
  
William nodded and reached into his pocket, fishing out a couple of coins. There went his rum money, but the lad didn't need to know that. He watched the owner leave, grumbling the whole way. "What's your name, lad?"  
  
"Jack."  
  
"What are you doin' in a place like Tortuga? You don' look like you belong here."  
  
"I ran off from London," Jack said slowly. A bright grin spread across his face. "I'm gonna join the crew of the Black Pearl!"  
  
"Really are ye?"  
  
"I plan to."  
  
William grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Come with me, lad, and I've got a bit of a surprise for ye."  
_  
"I pulled my wait and then some," Jack said as he turned to put his back against the railing, leaning back again. "The Pearl became my freedom, and yer father the one who gave tha' to me."  
  
Will nodded, letting the story sink in.  
  
"William told me one evenin' before the mutiny – we were standin' right 'round 'ere – tha' 'e was sorry I'd probably never meet you." Jack paused, straitening up from where he was leaning and looking Will square in the eye. "I'm glad 'e was wrong."  
  
---------------------------------  
  
JackFan2: ::hands you the next chapter:: Good thing I got this done tonight, because I'm headin' out tomorrow for the day and I don't know if I'll be able to write the next chapter until Saturday. Hope it met expectation! I really am kinda going into this one more/less blind and just letting it fall out the way it does, hope it's not too terrible :) 


	3. ch3

**Chapter Three: Life's Made up of Circles**  
  
"There's been rumors runnin' 'round Tortuga," Jack explained, "tha' a small boat 'as been comin' from a small island carryin' naught but one man."  
  
"And this is the island?" Will asked, peering as far through the foggy morning as he could.  
  
"Best anyone could tell me. No place to dock though.... Someone tried to follow 'im in somethin' jus' a li'll bigger than 'e was in and sunk it. Washed up on shore the next day."  
  
"Terrible."  
  
"Very. We'll take a longboat to the island."  
  
"And the _Pearl_?"  
  
"She'll 'ead into Tortuga an' re-supply wha' she needs," Jack said as he put his compass away and stepped towards Will.  
  
"You'll be careful, won' you?" Ana Maria asked from behind.  
  
"She's upset with me for not lettin' 'er come," Jack explained to Will. "'Course, luv, always. You know 'm only leavin' ye 'cause ye'll get things done in me place, eh?"  
  
"I know..."  
  
"Don' pout, luv. It don' suit you."  
  
"Only you?" she asked with a sly smirk.  
  
Jack grinned and placed a kiss on her lips. "Keep 'er well for me, luv. Yer the only one I trust fully to do so."  
  
"I know. Of with ya, ya mangy sea dog! An' don' get yerself into trouble. We'll be too far away."  
  
"Aye."  
  
------------------------------  
  
_ The knocking on the door came so loudly that Jack was sure that whoever might be on the other side would bash it in. "I'sopen!" he hollered, pulling himself from his bed, grabbing for his shirt as he went.  
  
Barbossa flung open the door, a frightening look on his face.  
  
"Wha'samatter yer 'ere so early?" Jack mumbled sleepily.  
  
"The crew's got some talkin' they'd like to do with ya, Cap'n."  
  
"Couldn' 'ey 'ave waited?"  
  
"No such luck."  
  
Jack nodded as he grabbed his bandana and tied it onto his head, his unruly hair subdued if not entirely tamed. He followed his first mate out of his quarters and to the deck. The entire crew was standing there. Jack made eye contact with William and felt uneasy. His old friend avoided his eyes immediately after looking into them.  
  
"Now, we've a question for ye, Jack," Barbossa was saying. "According to the Code everythin's in equal share, wouldn' ye say?"  
  
"Tha's 'ow it is," Jack responded slowly.  
  
"Well, ye see, Jack, we be three days into this trip an' none of us know 'ow to get there. Wouldn' ye say the coordinates are part o' tha' equal share?"  
  
Jack stared at him a moment. Something was wrong here.  
  
"It IS the Code, Jack."  
  
Jack nodded slowly as Barbossa handed him a map. Jack carefully drew out where they would be heading and where the island was, making small notes here and there to beware of this and that. "Tha's it," he said finally. He stood. "If tha' be all, mates, I've a ship to captain."  
  
"Tha's not it," Barbossa answered. "We've been talkin' amongst ourselves, Jack. Yer awful young, Cap'n, a little too green for our liking."  
  
Jack tensed as Barbossa wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in. Something was certainly wrong with this. The pirate captain looked over to William. Bootstrap was avoiding eye contact still.  
  
"Yer outa 'ere, Cap'n, an' I'll be takin' yer ship."  
  
"A mutiny," Jack breathed, horrified at the thought. "Ye wouldn' take me Pearl, Barbossa, would ye? 'm sure we could strike a deal...."  
  
"No deals, Jack. No miraculous escapes like with the East India Company. Ye see tha' island over there yonder? We're makin' ya governor of it. Lovely li'll thing it is. Ye get a gun with one shot, of course, but tha's it. Off ye go." Barbossa had been steadily maneuvering Jack towards the plank and gave him one final shove off. The gun fell in after him.  
  
The swim to the shore wasn't difficult, but it was tiring. Jack lay on the beach with the gun in hand as he watched his Pearl sail away. Without him.  
_  
"Jack? You all right?"  
  
The pirate captain jumped slightly and turned to Will. He'd been watching as the _Pearl_ sailed off towards Tortuga with Ana Maria in charge. It brought back too many memories. It frightened him, even though he knew it was foolish. Ana Maria was trustworthy. She loved him. She wouldn't betray him. None of the men would rise up against her. Most of them feared her.  
  
"Aye, lad, jus' fine. Why?"  
  
"You were just staring..."  
  
"She's a beautiful ship."  
  
Will laughed. "Aye, that she is, Jack. Now, which way do we go? This island looked fairly big from a ways off, so do we have a starting spot?"  
  
Jack nodded upwards a ways toward some footprints in the sand. "I'd say it's as good of a spot as any, eh?"  
  
"Sounds good."  
  
------------------------------  
  
"We're walking around in circles!" Will said finally, sitting down on a log that he had sat on two rounds before.  
  
"Life's made up of circles," said Jack as he frowned, fishing through his coat to find his compass.  
  
"What are you looking for?" the blacksmith asked, slightly annoyed sounding.  
  
"Me compass."  
  
"Is it in there?"  
  
"I put it in 'ere last night."  
  
"So it's there somewhere."  
  
"Ah!" Jack exclaimed as he pulled his compass out. "Found it!"  
  
"But how is that going to help us? It doesn't point north."  
  
"But we're not trying to find north, are we?"  
  
--------------------------------------  
  
"Ana Maria?"  
  
She turned to see Gibbs approaching her slowly, carefully, as one might approach a wounded animal. "Wha'?" she snapped.  
  
"Sorry to disturb yer thoughts, missy, but the crew was wantin' to know if we are gonna sail strait into Tortuga or wait until tomorrow."  
  
"We can make it before evening, Gibbs."  
  
"I know.... Jus' didn' wanna jump the gun, ye know."  
  
"Just do it how it's supposed to be done!"  
  
"Is somethin' wrong, lass? You've been jumpin' everyone for the past week or so. Even Jack's noticed it."  
  
"'m not jumpin' anyone," she grumbled.  
  
Gibbs raised his hands as if surrendering. "All right then, lass. If ye say so."  
  
-------------------------------  
  
"At least we're not traveling in circles now," Will said as he moved ahead of Jack, who was engrossed in checking his compass. "Are we just going to wonder around aimlessly? Jack?"  
  
"Somethin'll show iself soon enough, lad." As soon as the words left his mouth he and Will felt something shift under their feet. Jack looked down, his eyes widening when he realized what was happening.  
  
A net wrapped firmly around them and pulled upward to the tree above. Both men thrashed around as they tried to free themselves but only seemed to entangle everything worse.  
  
"So who is it that's come to me island, eh?" a voice asked from the brush.  
  
Will was the only one with a good look at the man. "Let us down! We mean you no harm."  
  
The net swung and Jack got a look at the man's face. "My word...."  
  
"What, do you know him?"  
  
Jack swallowed hard. "I swear you look jus' 'im," he said quietly, knowing that his comment would reveal exactly what needed to be revealed.  
  
----------------------------------  
A/N: I've gone flashback-happy in this story! HAha! oh well... hope that's okay with everyone ::grins::

JackFan2: I am indeed making this up as I go along. The one thing that started this was that last line that Jack said. I NEEDED it to be in here, and there it is! Didn't come out exactly how I wanted it, but well enough for it to stay that way. I never tend to know how things are going to end. I mean, yeah, I know that the good guys will save the day and so on and so on that every author knows, but other than that I don't usually know exactly what's going to happen. I tend to get a general idea stuck in my head and have a dozen ways that I might go about it (this is what I do while trying to fall asleep, maybe this is why I'm so tired) and then I do something that was never in any of the ideas.... Like the net.... Oh well.... It works out, so no worries. ::grins:: Oh! I watched that music video from Terri Clark! That was GREAT!! I loved it! ::goes off to watch it again::  
  
Kungfuchick: Good to see ye back, mate, as always! I do think this is a record for me! Three chapters in one day AND a short story! Haha! There goes all possible creativity for the night, but that's all good. Now I just need to get working on my painting. ::sobs:: I'm never going to finish it in time if I don't start! And I'm rambling, sorry.... Anyway, see ya later! Thanks muchly! 


	4. ch4

**Chapter Four: Bootstrap enters the picture**  
  
The man that had stepped out stood with a shocked expression on his face. "Jack...."  
  
"'allo, William." He grinned. "Finally met yer lad. Nice kid, 'e is. Too much like you, though. Out and out bloody stupid sometimes. Care to let us down?"  
  
William stood in shock for a moment and a half and then shook his head slowly. "You're dead, Jack."  
  
"Am I?" the pirate captain asked. "Someone needs to let me know 'bout these things."  
  
William shook his head and chuckled. He eased the net and captives down, landing them only with a small bump. The net fell away from them and they both stood, Jack swaying slightly.  
  
Will was the first to step forward, eyes locked with his father. "I never thought this day would come," he whispered, mostly to himself.  
  
William stepped up to him, looking at him closely. "Will? My lad's grown up.... Has it been so long?"  
  
Jack could swear he saw tears in his old friend's eyes as the two men embraced. He shifted, feeling slightly uncomfortable. This is for Will, he reminded himself. His "one good deed for the year" as he had told Ana Maria. No matter how much he told himself that, his mind seemed to wander back to days passed. Particularly the mutiny. Had William known more.... No... no, Jack corrected himself silently. Even if he did that was in the past and William was his good, loyal, and most trusted friend. That was the reason that he had brought Will to see him. He TRUSTED William.  
  
"Jack?"  
  
Jack looked startled as he came out of his inner thoughts. "Aye?"  
  
Father and son pair were looking at him oddly, making Jack grin.  
  
William broke into a grin as well. "Haven't changed a bit, 'ave ye, Jack?"  
  
"I've changed a bit."  
  
William nodded, noticing the lack of speaking that Jack was doing. The man that he remembered would have been running his mouth off now, asking for a bottle of rum, something.  
  
"So, where's yer place, mate? 'm gonna be a bit disappointed if ye've not a proper stash of somethin' good to drink."  
  
Ah there it was! That was the lad he had left behind. William chuckled. "Up the way a bit. Ye both have some story tellin' to do, though. The last ten or eleven years, I'd wager."  
  
----------------------  
  
"So Barbossa's dead?" William asked.  
  
"S'far as I know 'e is," Jack answered with another swig from the rum bottle. "The curse was lifted an' I shot 'im through the 'eart. I'd call 'im dead."  
  
William laughed. "Do you realize that Jack couldn' hit anythin' when I first met 'im. 'ey tried givin' 'im a gun and took it away quick enough."  
  
Jack made a face. "I was fourteen, William."  
  
"But taught ye right."  
  
Jack grinned and nodded. "'deed ye did. Yer father, Will, is the best - well second best now – shot in the Caribbean."  
  
"An' who's the first?" Will asked with a smirk.  
  
"Me of course," the captain answered matter of factly.  
  
"Since when?"  
  
The two other men laughed and Jack frowned. "Thanks, lad, thanks very much," the captain said sarcastically.  
  
Will was the first to stop laughing. "Well, about a year ago when we got back to Port Royal – you remember Elizabeth that we told you about? – I married her."  
  
"Did ye now?" William asked with a wide grin. "Do I have grandkids I don't know about?"  
  
"Aye. We named him after you." Will took a small sip of the liquor in front of him. Per the usual, Jack was drunk enough for both of them. "I'd like you to come back with us, if you would," he said at length.  
  
William set his glass down. "I'll consider it, my boy."  
  
----------------------------  
  
"Can't stay indoors, can you, Jack?"  
  
Jack turned to see William coming up behind him. He'd left the small house some time ago to look at the stars. The pirate captain shrugged. "'m not one to be held long."  
  
"I know." William allowed the silence between them to last for a couple of moments, but then took a long breath. "So how have you been, Jack? I can't tell ye 'ow good it is to see ye alive and well. I thought Barbossa 'ad done ye in."  
  
"You thought that?"  
  
"Aye. I feared it."  
  
"Then why didn' ye do anythin'?" Jack asked without really meaning to. He felt like that lost boy that he had been when he'd first met William, not really knowing up from down. Like a man in the crushing seas during a storm, not seeing the light from above water and wondering if he's swimming to the top or just condemning himself further to the depths.  
  
William's gaze softened on Jack. "I knew something was botherin' ye."  
  
"'m sorry, William, really I am. Ye 'ad a family to take care of. I shouldn' 'ave expected anythin'. I didn'. On some level I 'oped you'd stay yer place like ye did, but then again I thought you'd rescue me like you 'ad in the past."  
  
"I'm sorry Jack.... I never meant to betray you."  
  
"Ye didn'."  
  
"But..."  
  
Jack shook his head.  
  
"You've never made any since, ye know that, lad?"  
  
Jack laughed. "So I've been told." He paused, turning to his elder friend. "'ow far inland are we?"  
  
"Not too far from the opposite side of the island that you came from."  
  
"Ah."  
  
"Why?"  
  
There was a large explosion several meters away from them. "Because I thought I 'eard cannon fire," Jack answered simply as the two took cover.  
  
---------------------------------  
  
A/N: ::falls asleep on keyboard:: ::sits up quickly:: Note to self: hot sun, the lake, and no sunscreen on face makes for a nasty sunburn.... Also, sorry for the short chapter.... Used up all creativity last night and when I wrote my short story today. So sorry!!  
  
Kungfuchick: ::yawns:: yay! I still updated! Even half asleep! ::grins::  
  
JackFan2: I've kinda always pictured something along those lines too.... Wonder why I didn't write it... Oh well lol. I'm convinced that my stories write themselves and I just do the typing for them. 


	5. ch5

**Chapter Five: Of Forgotten Graves and Horrible Memories**  
  
A/N: I know the ending! I know the ending to the story!! Hmm... mayhaps I shouldn't be spreading it around that I had no idea what the ending would be before two seconds ago.... I'm sure my parents think I'm more off my rocker than they ever suspected. I spazzed when the idea hit me. I mean it slapped me upside head! Yay.... ::happy Saiko::  
  
--------------------------  
  
"'allo, Ana Maria," the bartender greeted the pirate woman. "Wha' brings you into Tortuga? Followin' Jack per usual?"  
  
"Followin' orders, mate."  
  
"I 'ere 'e's been lookin' for someone, but no one can tell me who. Maybe you can?"  
  
"Just that 'e's lookin' for an ol' friend on tha' island not too far from 'ere."  
  
"No one lives there, Ana."  
  
"'e's been 'earin' rumors tha' a man does. Comes too and from Tortuga by a small boat."  
  
"Aye, but that was half a year ago. No one's seen him for a good six months. Yer cap'n's got old information, lass."  
  
Ana Maria watched the man with a critical eye. "Thank you very much."  
  
-----------------------  
  
"What's going on?!" Will yelled as he came from the house.  
  
"We're getting shot at."  
  
"Obviously, Jack, but by who?"  
  
"'ow should I know?!"  
  
Another shot hit close. "Come this way. I've got a place we can go," William said. "Further inland."  
  
Will and Jack nodded, following as best they could behind.  
  
The pirate captain half tripped over something small in the ground. "What on earth...?" he mumbled as he bent to look at it. "A grave?"  
  
"Jack! Watch out!"  
  
Jack looked up just in time to feel the effects of the explosion that had happened a small ways away. He felt slam into a tree and slide down, everything turning black.

-------------------------

_"Worthless brat! Where are you?"  
  
Jack knelt down behind the large chair. Richard was on one of his tirades that he threw. Screaming through the house. He wasn't even sure what he'd done this time.  
  
"Jack! Get out here you little-"  
  
"Stop yer screamin'," Jack said as he stood from his spot. "I was just lookin' for somethin'."  
  
Richard's eyes blazed with hatred. "Where have you been? Your teacher contacted me today. She said you took a fist to another student."  
  
"'e deserved it!" Jack argued.  
  
"And what, pray tell, did he say that was so horrible?"  
  
Jack raised his chin. He was stubborn for his fourteen years. "'e said I was no good 'cause me dad was a pirate. Said I didn' belong in London 'cause 'm darker than everyone 'ere. I told 'im to shut it before I punched 'im! I warned 'im fair, I did!"  
  
Richard pulled back and swatted Jack across the face. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again. You will not talk back to me. I am your father now and you shall treat me as such with respect."  
  
"You sure don' act like it!" Jack yelled. The second slap was just as expected as the first. "Stop 'ittin' me!"  
  
"Then act your age and stop wining."  
  
"You wouldn' know wining," Jack growled. "That Harry boy is the one wining. I didn' 'it 'im 'ard! Barely left a mark!"  
  
"You hit Harry Johnston?"  
  
"I did," Jack answered defiantly.  
  
Richard fumed. "You want me to show you something that'll leave a mark?" he growled, taking the lad by his collar and dragging him into the next room. He picked up a broken chair leg. "Remember this?"  
  
"I didn' mean to break it, honest!" Jack said quickly. "I was just foolin'. I already apologized. What more can I do?"  
  
Richard pulled back and rammed it across Jack's skull, sending the boy stumbling back. "THAT will leave a mark, boy," he growled. "You hear me, you little pirate bastard? NEVER will you hit someone like Lord Johnston's son again. EVER."  
  
Jack blinked, shaking his head, trying to clear it and push away the ringing sound. "Tha's it then, in'nit?" he mumbled. He braced himself against the wall. "Tha's why you 'ate me. My mum loved – and still loves – someone else besides you and I'm the product of that staring you in the face every day. Tha's sad, Richard."  
  
Richard pulled back the chair leg again and slammed it into the boy. Jack felt his head slam into the wall behind him and he slid down it, leaving a blood trail behind as he fell lifelessly to the ground.  
_  
Jack Sparrow sat up with a start, breath coming in ragged gasps. He leaned forward, trying to catch his breath.  
  
"You all right there, lad?"  
  
Jack looked up to see William standing over him. His head hurt so much, but Richard's club had just been a dream. He hadn't really been hit, had he? He reached his hand up carefully to his head and felt gingerly. "Ow...."  
  
"It's bound to hurt," William stated as he sat next to his younger friend. "You hit it pretty hard on that tree."  
  
"No kiddin'..."  
  
"You dreamin' 'bout somethin', Jack?"  
  
Jack nodded slowly. "Reason I left me folks."  
  
"Ah...."  
  
A small, strange smile spread across Jack's face. "I remember me mum's face when I came 'round tha' night. 'Don' make Richard angry, first rule of the house,' she told me. Bloody stupid me, though, right?"  
  
"You're not stupid, Jack. You're anything but."  
  
"'m always stupid, William."  
  
William shook his head. "No... Crazy, possibly, but in a good way, I assure you."  
  
Jack sat thinking for a moment. "There was something I was going to ask you, but I jus' can't remember now. I saw somethin' right before tha' bomb hit. I jus' can't remember wha' it was."  
  
"Don't worry about it, Jack. Just lay down, ye hit yer head pretty good tonight."  
  
"'sat why everythin's spinning 'round?"  
  
William chuckled. "Could be."  
  
"Where's the lad?"  
  
"Right here," Will answered as he stepped into sight. "How are you feeling?"  
  
"'orrible."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Not your fault."  
  
"You were mumbling in your sleep," Will mentioned. "What were you dreaming?"  
  
"Things I'd much rather forget, lad. Let's get some sleep before 'eadin' to the _Pearl_ tomorrow, savvy?"  
  
Will grinned. "Savvy."  
  
_"Tha's it then, in'nit? Tha's why you 'ate me. My mum loved – and still loves – someone else besides you and I'm the product of that staring you in the face every day. Tha's sad, Richard."  
_  
Jack blinked back tears. He hadn't cried in years. Not since he'd watched his father hang. He had not cried once when Richard hit him, nor even when his ship was stolen. He wouldn't cry now at a long passed memory. He wouldn't give Richard that satisfaction.  
  
-----------------------------------------  
  
"There's been cannon fire reported, Ana Maria," Gibbs said. "Explosions, right 'round where Jack 'n' Will are 'spose to be."  
  
"I don't like it at all," Ana Maria muttered. "Have we gotten what we need?"  
  
"Aye, lass. Are we goin' to look for a certain trouble-magnate captain?"  
  
"Aye, Mr. Gibbs. Yer readin' my mind."  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
A/N: I know I haven't given anyone but kungfuchick time to review, so thank you to those who WILL review! If you do that is.....  
  
Kungfuchick: Mate, nothin' is EVER fine and dandy with me writin'! Ye should know this by now! ::grins:: I'm a Jack torture fan! He's so fun to do this to...... 


	6. ch6

**Chapter Six: Truths revealed**  
  
A/N: ::listening to "Extraordinary" by Liz Phair:: Anyone heard this? That's great! "Average everyday sane psycho" Wohoo! That line is the story of my life there, just leave the "average" part out. :)  
  
-----------------------------------  
  
Jack stretched as he woke slowly the next morning. His head hurt. Everything hurt. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the foggy feeling in his head. Suddenly it hit him. The grave! That was what he was going to ask William about. Who had died? Did he bury him?  
  
"G'mornin', Jack."  
  
Jack turned. "G'mornin', William."  
  
"I guess whoever was shooting at us earlier decided we weren't worth the effort. The cannon fire's long since stopped."  
  
"No complaints 'ere," the pirate captain assured him. "William, I thought of what I was going to ask yesterday. There was a grave that I saw as we were trying to get away yesterday. Whose is it? Ye know?"  
  
William shifted uncomfortably. "Some poor bloke tha' died 'ere. Think I've seen 'is ghost wanderin' 'round 'ere from time to time."  
  
"Hmm... Wonder what keeps 'im...."  
  
"Unfinished happenings in this world, I suppose."  
  
"Who was 'e, William?" Jack asked as he looked at his friend.  
  
William smiled. "No one of importance."  
  
"Ah."  
  
-------------------------------------  
  
"Stay."  
  
"'m not lettin' ye go off to tha' island all on yer onesies, lass," Gibbs argued.  
  
"Fine. This is an order, Mr. Gibbs: stay."  
  
Gibbs nodded after a moment then mumbled something about women being bad luck AND a hassle.  
  
Ana Maria smirked as she stepped made her way to the longboat and into the water. She had to find Jack – providing the cannon fire that she had found was a young captain trying out his new toys on a supposed disserted island hadn't killed him – and let him know what she'd found out. Something was terribly amiss about all of this.  
  
She steered the boat into through the jagged rocks and to the shore. Best start in the middle of the island.  
  
----------------------------  
  
"So you're coming with us, aren't you?" Will asked hopefully as he watched his father carefully.  
  
"I'm not sure, Will," the elder Turner responded. "I've got things here I need to tend to."  
  
"But you have to come meet Elizabeth and Bill. My family would love to meet you."  
  
Jack watched the conversation between the two men with a keen interest. The William Turner he knew would have jumped at a chance to see his family, even if it were for a short while. Something was wrong with this picture.  
  
"An' I could use ye back on the _Pearl_," Jack interjected.  
  
William looked down at this. "I don' think I'd ever be able to return, Jack... Too many memories. Jus' like you never really wanted to come back to my 'ouse. It wasn' Rebecca that really kept ye out, was it lad?"  
  
Jack gave his old friend a small smile. "Aye. Ye know me too well. Frightening thing that."  
  
"Jack!"  
  
Jack turned to see Ana Maria jogging towards him. "'allo, luv, aren't you back a bit early?"  
  
"You daft idiot!" she growled at him as she flung her arms around him. "I thought you'd gone and gotten yourself in trouble again." She pulled back, eyeing his head for the first time. Jack had managed to clean most of the blood from it, but some of it still stuck in his hair. "'ow bad?"  
  
"Not at all," Jack responded as he cupped her face. "Luv, this is me ol' friend William Turner. Ye've 'eard of Bootstrap Bill Turner before, I know."  
  
"I 'ave," she whispered in astonishment.  
  
"An' this is me first mate, Ana Maria," Jack introduced.  
  
"A woman first mate?" William questioned with a grin. "Only you would do tha', Jack."  
  
"Wha's tha' face for?" Jack asked Ana as she still stood gaping.  
  
"You're not real, are you?" she mumbled. "An old friend of mine in Tortuga said that ye 'ad't been seen in a good six months. I ran into someone else on the way out tha' said 'e'd seen yer boat wash up on shore. Tell me 'ow a man could live on an island like this without a boat to get off."  
  
William stared at her for several long moments. "You've got a bit of intuition on ye, lass," he said at last.  
  
"Tha' grave..." Jack mumbled.  
  
"My own."  
  
"Then why are you still 'ere?" the captain asked.  
  
"You and Will. I know you, Jack. I knew you were alive, lad, and I'm sorry to 'ave deceived ye. I wanted to see the two of ye before I let go. Needed to know Will was 'appy and to know ye were well and I'd been forgiven."  
  
"You lied to us," Will managed.  
  
"I never lied," William corrected. "Deceived, yes, but never would I out and out lie to you and Jack. I've done too much wrong to deserve forgiveness from the two of ye, but I'll ask it because I must."  
  
Will nodded. "You're my father. Of course." He gave a sad smile. "And you'll be highly missed."  
  
Jack gave his old friend a forced smile. "There was never anythin' to forgive, William. Ye always did what was best. 'm just sorry I 'ave to let ye go again, but Rebecca never did like to share ye with anyone, much less the crew on the _Pearl_. Doubt she's any different in whatever lies beyond, eh?"  
  
William chuckled and pulled Jack into an unexpected hug. "You were always like a son to me, Jack."  
  
"I know, and ye were always a better father than I could 'ave 'oped for. I don' remember much of me real dad, but I'm sure 'e was just like you."  
  
William faded slowly from sight, leaving the two younger men and Ana Maria in silence, and that's how they returned to the _Pearl_: utter silence.  
  
--------------------------  
  
"I need to go to London to make him a proper grave," Will said quietly as he leaned forward on the railing of the ship. "Do you think....?"  
  
"We'll swing by and pick up your bonnie lass and treasure snipe, 'ow's tha' sound?"  
  
Will gave him a small smile. "Just what I was thinking."  
  
Jack took a shaky breath, pushing back the emotions that were still running through him. "I thought we'd find 'im alive, I really did," he said at last. "Never saw it comin'."  
  
"No one would have."  
  
"Ana Maria, obviously."  
  
"Well she had some information that we didn't. Don't worry, Jack, I didn't know either."  
  
Jack sighed and took a long drink from the rum bottle in his hands. "I'll miss 'im. 'e was a good man."  
  
Will nodded. "Yes he was."  
  
----------------------------------  
  
"I'd forgotten how much I loved London," Elizabeth breathed. "Should we drop by and see Marie?"  
  
"I'm not sure Jack would be up for that," her husband responded as he sat next to her. "Where did he go, anyway?"  
  
"He said he'd be back a while ago. Walked up that hill and that's the last I saw of him."  
  
Will nodded. "Wait here for me?"  
  
Elizabeth nodded as she watched Will stand and start off towards the hill she'd spoke of.  
  
It was a large cemetery, but one could see all of it from the hill. Will looked down to where his pirate friend kneeling beside a grave. He made his way quietly to him.  
  
Jack did not look up. "'e was a good man, so me mum said when I was little. She stopped talkin' 'bout 'im after a while. Richard never liked it much."  
  
Will knelt next to him. "Your mother seems to think you are just like him."  
  
"Tha's why Richard 'ates me." Jack flashed the other man a grin. "If 'm gonna be 'ated, tha's as good a reason as I can think of, eh? Actin' like me father."  
  
Will laughed. "A very good reason."  
  
"No one can change their heritage," Jack said slowly, eyes trained on the headstone. "Certain things can't be changed. When I was young an' I lived 'ere, I used to want to be like Richard wanted me to be. I was young and stupid. Yer father was a better father to me than 'e'd 'ave ever been."  
  
"I suppose we've both received some sort of closure on this, hmm?" Will mused aloud.  
  
"Aye, in some way."  
  
"What about you, Jack? Will you ever be a father, you think?"  
  
The pirate captain looked his friend in the eye. "Is it worth it?"  
  
Will grinned as he glanced at the top of the hill where Elizabeth – with Bill in her arms – waved at the two men. "Most certainly."  
  
--------------------------------  
  
A/N: That's the end of that story. That was a quick one... Sorry! I have at least one more idea that I'm going to work on soon. I was going to co write it with a friend, but she has dropped off the face of the internet.... So, hmm, guess I'll be writing it alone. All my stories ::points at authors page:: have been a result of me waiting on her to show up sometime and hoping maybe she'd still write with me, but oh well, guess she got busy.  
  
JackFan2: I have succeeded in my goal in making Richard absolutely loathable (is that a word?) ! Yay! Well, he didn't hit poor Jack with the WHOLE chair, just the chair leg.... Not that that makes it any better. I'm running through my mind writing a couple of side stories. 1). Richard and Marie are back in England in this story, and I'm thinking maybe Jack could have given them a ride back... The interesting things that might happen and 2). A side story that follows up directly after this one since they're all in England. Just an idea.... Was my ending okay?  
  
Savvy-Rum-Drinker: Ah yes... We're twisted but we're many! Jack torture fans! My (sort of almost not officially) boyfriend thinks I'm absolutely off my rocker for getting liking to write Jack-torture. Oh well! Thanks for reading! 


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